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The Power of Positive Rumor

The Importance of Getting Your Members to Invite Their Friends

Today we are bombarded with information. Our
world is filled with advertisements, billboards, TV ads, radio spots,
informational flyers, and newspapers all trying to sell us something or
persuade us that a product is worthy of our dollar. However, even in this age
of mass media and seemingly limitless information people still tend to trust
one source of information more than any other; that source is simply “word of
mouth.”

Rumors or “word of mouth” can carry positive
information or negative. Unfortunately, people seem preconditioned to share
negative aspects of their experiences. The White House Office of Consumer
affairs finds that a dissatisfied customer shares their unpleasant experience
with nine other people. A California market research firm shows that
dissatisfied automobile customers tell their stories to twenty-two other people
on average. A bad experience at a bank can be rehearsed in the ears of
fifty-five other individuals according to one study.

I
can only assume that someone who has a bad church experience will most likely
have the same tendency to share his or her bad news in a similar way. However,
a church that is thinking can use the power of rumor or “word of mouth” to
their advantage. If you think about it, this was the primary way the early
church grew; house to house and by word of mouth. If we were serious about
telling others about Christ and our church the potential audience we could
reach is staggering.

Researchers
think the average person has a sphere of influence that includes about 250
people. This means that a city population of 62,500 could be reached by word of
mouth in just two steps. If you tell the 250 people you know about your church
and they tell the 250 people they know then in that simple process 62,500 will
have heard. If we follow this formula to its conclusion the world does indeed
become very small.

When
we receive and treat guests in an exceptional fashion and genuinely display the
love of Christ toward them, not only do we increase the possibility of them
returning but we also increase the likelihood of others hearing positive
things about our church. Loving people and doing things right have their own
rewards; and part of that reward is a good testimony that is rehearsed in the
ears of others.

If this article was a help to you, consider sharing it with your friends.